


Castle of Glass

by starkspangledsoldier



Series: Drowning in the Rain [1]
Category: Captain America - All Media Types, Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Army, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Awesome Sarah Rogers, BAMF Sarah Rogers, Bucky Barnes Has Issues, Cute Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Disabled Character, Gore, Heavy Angst, Hurt Steve Rogers, M/M, Natasha Romanov Is Not A Robot, Papa Bear - Freeform, Parent Steve Rogers, Parent Tony Stark, Pepper Potts & Tony Stark Friendship, Peter Parker is Tony Stark's Biological Child, Peter is so pure you'll have to love him if you have a soul, Peter is the best son, Peter loves everyone, Protective Steve Rogers, Steve Feels, Steve Rogers Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Steve Rogers Feels, Steve Rogers Needs a Hug, Steve rogers is trying hard, Superfamily (Marvel), Tony Angst, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Has Issues, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-12
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-16 17:42:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28710666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starkspangledsoldier/pseuds/starkspangledsoldier
Summary: Tony Stark finally has the life he has dreamed of. He is the head of the worlds biggest conglomerate, he has married the love of his life, Steve Rogers. They have a beautiful son, Peter together. For the first time in forever life is good for Tony Stark. But the universe always has a way of fucking him over when he least expects it.
Relationships: Happy Hogan/Pepper Potts, James "Bucky" Barnes/Natasha Romanov, Peter Parker & Steve Rogers, Peter Parker & Steve Rogers & Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Series: Drowning in the Rain [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2183631
Comments: 16
Kudos: 71





	1. I'll list the songs I'm listening to as chapters. so currently AFTERGLOW

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!! So I've wanted to post this fic forever. Army Steve with superfamily is my passion. Also there is gonna be a lotta sad in this fic. So, beware...?
> 
> Anyway kudos and comments would be APPRECIATED. And mean comments make me sad so I will delete them. But anyways I love y'all and tell me how the fic is!
> 
> Also, come talk to me at my IG account stark_spangled_soldier

Tony bounced his feet under the table and glanced at his watch before he tried to add some new contributions to his prototype of the arc reactor.

Tony sneaked a glance to the side where his five-year-old son was furiously drawing on his sketchpad. He smiled on seeing that the five-year-old had paused to squint at the clock.

Fifteen minutes. How was that fair? He got to see his husband for fifteen minutes when Happy and Pepper could go around seeing each other. Fucking unfair. Then again when had life ever been fair to Tony Stark? That's right, never.

Before Tony could marvel over how many times the universe had done him dirty, he had to leap over and take the Skype call on his laptop.

"Buttercup!" Tony quipped out one of his nicknames on seeing his husband looking as blonde, fit and handsome as he had ever been.

He waited impatiently as Steve tried to slam the door shut shouting what seemed to be some sort of uncensored version of hijacking Bucky's call with Natasha. The man's threat must have worked well enough because seconds later he was walking over to the monitor with a triumphant smile on his face.

"How are you, Tony?" he asked a fond smile playing on his lips as he seated himself down.

Tony took a second to stare at his lover because that's what most people did, right? Hell, he and Steve used to stare at each other all the time before Tony had become the head of Stark Industries and Steve had become Captain Rogers.

Normal married couples with five-year-olds probably didn't do that. But they weren't the normal married couple, were they?

Tony shook his head "SI's still an armful, I'm sleep deprived and caffeine driven and Peter is going raccoon crazy because his schoolwork is way too easy. The usual, "

Steve cocked one of his eyebrow with a concerned look of his, but he somehow managed to hide it and reasoned, "You don't run SI; Pepper does. I've told you a million times to go easy on the coffee and stop spending so much time inside your lab Tony. You'll get sick,"

Tony let out a scowl and turned away. Steve knew him too well. Probably the reason none of his bullshit worked with the blond. But it was harder to go to sleep when it was JARVIS's measured voice asking him to go to sleep. Not Steve wrapping his strong arms and gently carrying him away to their bed. But before Tony could bite back with a sarcastic remark Steve interrupted him.

"Speaking of Peter. Where's my son, Stark?" the blond asked him with a cocky grin.

Tony let out an exaggerated gasp placing a hand over his chest, acting to be affronted about Steve talking about Peter as his own son. In reality his heart was fluttering because Steve considered Peter, son of Tony Stark and Mary Parker as his own son.

"Don't you mean our son, love?" Tony asked and Steve, that bastard, just smiled at him sweetly.

The genius grumbled under his breath but called Peter over "Your old man wants to see you,"

"Excuse me? I'm two years younger than you,"

"Do I need to recollect the day you met J. A. R. V. I. S?" Tony asked the younger man with a smirk on his lips, making Steve pout.

The blond had been introduced to Tony's Artificial Intelligence and helper J. A. R. V. I. S after they had completed almost a month of dating. Steve had almost leapt out of his skin when the AI's voice referred to him as Captain Rogers.

"I'm sorry, I was shocked when I first met your disembodied housekeeper. It was very... Um, Amish of me," Steve quipped back his lips drawn tight scornfully.

Tony smiled at him sweetly and retorted "Alright then, what about the home theatre?"

He flicked up his eyebrow in victory as his husband flushed red and mumbled something inaudibly. Finally, Steve told him "It was cool-" He scratched his neck awkwardly- "A theatre inside your house,"

Tony smiled at Steve wryly as he shuffled in his seat awkwardly. The man was still awkward about talking about Tony's wealth and possessions. Tony felt that it was mostly because he had discussed his stories about people dating him only for his bank accounts. But honestly, he would be more than willing to write all his possessions over to Steve if he would let him.

"I think you mean our Steve. It's-"

"Papa!"

Tony jerked back in shock and exchanged a surprised glance with Steve as their son let out a howl of anger and indignance at not being called earlier. The five-year-old climbed up on to Tony's lap huffing out a puff of breath with exertion.

"Hi," Peter smiled sweetly at the monitor. Tony felt his heart melt into his stomach. Steve must have felt something similar because he smiled at the tiny brunet fondly and muttered "Hey, Pete,"

"I made a drawing for you! It's not as good as your, but... Here," Peter blinked at the sheet of paper inside his fist shyly but slowly showed it to Steve with a grin.

Sure enough, there was Steve and James. Both of them were wearing Peter's own version of their desert fatigues, grinning at whatever was supposed to be in front of them.

"Look at the nose on that guy..." Tony murmured seeing the blond figure on the paper. If Tony didn't know better he would say the huge nose was an ode to Peter's father.

Steve shot him a glare but told Peter "This is lovely. I'll have your father sent it to me so I can show it to uncle Bug,"

"I hope he likes it. This is for you by the way. You can show it to him though," Peter rambled on quietly, wringing his chubby little hands. Tony quickly realized that the drawing was supposed to be treasured and cherished by only one person. He glanced up to see if Steve had got it but he was already talking to their son.

"I love this too much to share. But I'm sure your uncle would love to get a drawing of his own,"  
Steve told the five-year-old with a soft smile.

Tony smiled fondly as Peter perked up immediately, promising his father that he would quickly make another drawing for his uncle Buggy.

"Love you, papa," Peter almost shouted out quickly and scurried off, grabbing his crayons and pencils to make a drawing for James.

"Love you," Steve replied, smiling at Tony as the other man gave him a sympathetically smile.

Tony smiled not even bothering to initiate another topic to talk, knowing that Steve's time was gonna end soon. Sure enough, another young soldier hijacked the computer without even giving Steve the time to bid Tony goodbye.  
\------------------------

"Tony don't be sad," Pepper cajoled, stroking his arm soothingly.

"I'm not mad, I'm disappointed," Tony muttered clicking the stapler on Pepper's desk in disappointment.

Steve had promised him to face time in the evening and Tony being the fool he was had cleared off his whole schedule. Unfortunately, it was almost half an hour past the decided time, and Tony was still staring at the computer screen.

The brunet turned around in his chair sharply as half of the crowd including his best friend Rhodey, Pepper, Obie and Natasha let out loud snorts.

"What?" he snapped at them in annoyance.

"Nothing. I just never thought I would be hearing these words from you buddy, " Rhodey sniped making Tony scowl and throw a paperweight at him, which the Marine caught easily.

"It's not his fault," Natasha chimed in with an uncharacteristically kind smile.

He shrugged. Of course, it was never Steve's fault. How could he blame his husband for not being there for the family at every turn when he was at the line of fire, fighting for their country? If anything Tony was the bad guy for complaining right?

"That doesn't mean you shouldn't have feelings over it," Pepper reassured his as she wrapped her long arm around his shoulder.

"I just wasted a lot of time, though," He whispered sadly.

"No. you didn't,"

The whole room went silent and stared as Obadiah Stane spoke up. Tony almost felt his spine prickle by the cold demeanour of his friends.

All of them had made it clear that they didn't like Obie. But, Tony didn't have the heart to keep Obie away. Obadiah Stane may be many things, but he was also the only parental figure in his life after his mom and Jarvis.

"What?" Tony asked.

"You're going to Ten Rings to have a drink and exchange ideas with Tiberius,"

Tony groaned. He did not want to go out with Tiberius. The man's arrogance wasn't on the list of things Tony could bear today. He just wanted to go home wear Steve's extremely large sweater and wallow in his sorrows, while watching You've Got Mail.

Tony shook his head and started, "I don't think so, Obie. I-" "You have to do it for SI, boy,"

Tony huffed out a sigh and glanced over to Rhodey, who gave him a you're old enough to decide for yourself look.

"C'mon, be the bigger man Tones," Obie pressed on with a sly smile.

"Alright." Tony grimaced making Pepper and Natasha sigh harshly.  
\-----------------

Pepper stacked up all the files neatly, wondering when Tony would learn to clean things clean in his office. She smiled to herself remembering the brunet's words.  
'You're too narrow minded to understand the beauty in my mess.'

Pepper put away the last stack of files and dusted her hands on her skirt when an alarm from the monitor made her jump back in surprise.

She walked over and grimaced on seeing Steve requesting to Skype with Tony. She pursed her lips but accepted the call shortly.

Pepper frowned as Steve blinked at her in confusion. The blond's disheveled hair, heaving chest and dirt greased face suggested that he had put away a few things to make the call.

"Tony went out," she told him sympathetically.

"Out, " he rasped out more of a statement than a question. Pepper winced on hearing his voice which was harsh and gravelly from exertion.

"I'm sorry honey. He waited for a while. He just went out with Ty," she tried to console him, chewing her lip with concern and sadness.

"It's okay." Steve told her smiling sadly. Pepper mirrored his expression. "I'll call ma. Tell him I said hello, though, " He told her.

She smiled at him crookedly and jotted down on a notepad muttering "Okay, will tell Tony that you said you love him,"

Steve blushed an impressive shade of red but waved her goodbye only after saying, "Please do tell him that,"


	2. The Lighthouse Keeper

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, it's me again!!! So there's a new chapter. Yay! Honestly this is my first 3k+ chapter and I'm proud of that and I'm definitely not the judge of quality. And. So. You know. *Silently Panics*
> 
> Moving on the theory of the arc reactor is absolutely NOT mine so credit goes to the talented Quora dude who's name I unfortunately do not remember. And I just love the Howlies and Sarah. I could not not make them a part of this. *Stans Sarah Rogers for the queen she is*
> 
> I really do hope ya'll like this....

"Old man used external power. He must have ionized Palladium by an electric arc. Then accelerated to high velocity in the outer ring..." Tony mumbled as he drained the martini in his hand.

Even though his brain was fuzzed and whirring from the not so virgin martini, Tony felt dread build up inside his chest on seeing the olives left in his flask. It reminded him of his freak of nature of a husband who hated martinis but loved the olives.

Not that he would tell anyone but Tony personally loved hand feeding olives to the blond. There was something extremely personal and warm about it. Especially, when Steve used the chance to take a few licks at his fingers.

"You gonna eat those olives?" Tiberius asked, but, already moved forward to steal the olives and pop it inside his mouth. Tony let out an indignant scowl feeling cheated but grudgingly decided to let it slide.

"Gonna continue?" The older brunet happily asked smacking his lips after swallowing the olives.

Tony nodded. He didn't know why Tiberius need to know about the arc reactor to make a merger between SI and his company but the need was Tony's alone, right? Of course yes, that's what Obie told him.

" There may also have been some externally powered gamma-ray production to jump-start the inner core. I don't know..." he said drowning another flask and extending the olives for the other man.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know it was a hard topic for you," Ty told him sympathetically, his grey eyes sparkling as he placed his hand on Tony's knee.

Tony squinted at the man half surprised, half suspicious. This wasn't the cocky, abusive, bastard he dated when they were both studying in MIT. No, this man was different. Extremely different.

"That's fine. So the electrons probably escaped the core and were directed by magnetic fields into-" Tony stopped talking as Tiberius put his stubby finger against his lips and shushed softly.

"Don't overwork yourself, Tones," he muttered with another sad smile.

Tony jerked back and bit his lip. What the hell? Tiberius Stone was a gentleman now? Did people change that easily? Sure, Tony had changed a lot over the years, but his void had never been as deep as the other brunet's.

"Mmkay," he mumbled his voice still slurred from the many flasks of martini he had drained to make his brain work.

"Let's get out of here. Now," Tiberius said and almost carried him out of Ten Ring's, his arms that snaked around Tony's torso wasn't as tight as they used to be in their college days. Now it was gentle, in a way that almost made him yearn to be held by Steve.

"I'm going. Okay, sugar? " Tiberius murmured depositing Tony on the huge bed which was way too big for one person. He should probably start sleeping in the guestroom. It would probably be more comfortable. Or maybe he could temporarily replace Steve with a big bunny. Custom made one which was six foot two.

"Get out of here," He told Tiberius. The alcohol made the words blunt enough that he flinched back. The taller man sighed but scrambled out of his and Steve's bedroom.

Tony leapt out of the bed and searched the room for his phone. He let out a cry of joy as he found the phone in the pocket of his pants and pressed down the first button.

A tired groan came out  
from the other end after a small pause " 'Ello...? "

Tony felt a smile spread on his wobbly lips as he heard his husband's husky voice. No matter how gentle or kind Tiberius Stone became, Tony Stark would jump into Steve's arm without a second thought.

"What are you doing baby?" He purred sweetly.

"Tony? Wha- I'll just-God, I can't hear. Wait... " Steve groaned. Tony smiled as his husband grumbled something under his breath and started to walk.

'Sam. You and Bucky can take Razaq home, this is enough for today.'

Tony let out an impressed hum as Steve laughed and said something in Arabic. Not that he understood the language very much but his husband sounded very sexy speaking in it.

"Tony, are you okay?" Steve asked him in a concerned tone, which made his chest go fuzzy. The blond was in some shit hole in Afghanistan, and he was still worried about him. How many people did that? He wasn't sure if even his parents did that...

"We should do something..."

"Huh?"

"We should have another child?"

"Tony, are you drunk?"

"Yeah, Tiberius ate your olives,"

"What?"

"I'm sorry. I didn't want to! He stole it from me... I love you only, Steve," Tony sobbed feeling his eyes burning. Steve was right to be annoyed; olives were their thing. How could he betray Steve and just let Tiberius have their olives?

"I just-" "Sweetheart, I love you too but I went through a raid and almost five hours of debriefing I don't have the energy for this..."

"Oh." Tony said blankly. But Steve had laughed for someone before, why couldn't he spend time for chatting with him? Was Tony that terrible of a husband? Tony did remember the various times Steve had been annoyed at him when they were both stateside. Steve had started fights with him for not sleeping enough or not eating healthy or skipping dates for board meetings. Maybe he had had enough, maybe he had seen how happier he could be if he was with that guy, Race or Razor or something. What would Tony tell his son? His little spider adored Steve.

"But can you do something for me?" Steve's soothing voice broke him out of his thoughts and pulled him back gently.

"Mmm..."

"Drink a bottle or two of your Fiji water and get a goodnight's sleep?" "For me?" Steve repeated gently.

"For you..." Tony slurred feeling his voice get choked up.

"Yeah,"

"I love you," Tony sobbed out harshly. It was true. He loved the big, beefy, blond soldier with a heart of gold more than he had loved anyone else. His only competition was Tony's mom and Peter. But even he knew that the only one who stood a chance of winning was his son.

"Me too, now go to sleep,"

"Okay, cap," Tony happily mumbled burrowing his head into the fluffy pillow and fell asleep listening to Steve's warm and husky chuckle.

\------------------------

"Was I summoned?" Tony asked creaking the door of the principal's office open.

Tony had been in his lab trying to make new improvements for the SI's weapon tech. The idiots thought they could build tech better than him. Rookie mistake. He was drawing a complex prototype for the newest model of their missiles, the Jericho, when he had got a call from Ms Harrington saying he should come to the school fast.

Tony slid inside the principal's office and shrugged on seeing Peter sit with another kid. The brunet winced on seeing the pink bruising on his five-year-old's cheek.

He had glanced at the other kid who was staring to the front stubbornly but whipped his head over to the teacher before he did something he would regret.

"What's happening?" Tony asked her again.

"Mr. Stark, Peter has been threatening young Eugene here. He told the poor boy that his father would beat him up," The old woman told him with a curt nod and glared at Peter.

Tony winced. He may have known the reason why Peter had said that. A few years back Peter had been scared for the first day at preschool and Tony had tried to console him whispering that he would make papa beat up anyone who bothered him. It seemed that the boy had taken the words to his heart.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Stark but I have to ask you this. Is your husband violent or abusive?"

Tony's eyes widened. Oh, no. He hadn't foreseen this outcome. Were they going to think that Steve was some violent, unbalanced soldier who sought out to domestic violence to quench his needs? Oh, god were they going to revoke the adoption or Jesus, would they take Peter away from Tony?

"You're being mean!" Peter screeched making both Tony and Ms. Harrington to glance down at the little boy.

"Quiet, Mr. Parker," The old lady admonished his son in a voice that lacked any sort of emotion that was related to affection.

"You're being a bully too! You're saying mean things about Papa!" He snarled at his teacher, the kid would have been more intimidating if he didn't have huge Bambi eyes, locks of brown hair and an adorable pout on his lips.

"I was just read-" "Wait a second. Did he say too? Is Peter here because he stood up to a bully?"

"Your son threatened a child-" "For no reason? I find that bit hard to believe, Ms. Harrington,"

Mr Stark-" "No, no. My son is the one who is hurt here. I demand an answer unless you don't mind a letter from my assistant Miss. Potts!"

"Peter decided to-" -"Defend himself from a bully. I'm not going to punish him for that,"

Tony eyed the old woman carefully as she pursed her lips and started to move the things around her with an astonishing speed. He held his breath as she took a moment before glancing back at him. Threatening people with his stubborn ideals and beliefs were more in Steve's court than his.

"So?" He asked in a demanding voice and stared at the principal expectantly.

"I'll talk to Eugene's parents about the bullying if you talk to your son about the violence,"

"Thank you,"

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Peter snapped his head up to look at Tony. The older brunet grimaced on seeing the purple bruise on his baby's face. He had to tell himself that good people don't threaten kids to constrain himself from racing over to young mister Thompson. Who did that little brat think he is, bullying his son.

Tony reminded himself to remember to sic Steve on Mr Thompson's father. As mentioned above the blond had more expertise in this area.

"You okay, bambino?" Tony asked the five-year-old in a low voice.

"Are we going to Nana's?" Peter asked excitedly, stabbing his thumb at the two-storied colonial house behind them. He seemed to have forgotten about the bullying at the thought of getting his grandmother's baked goods.

Tony smiled unbuckling Peter's seatbelt. The five-year-old loved Steve's mother. Hell it wasn't like Tony could blame him. The woman was an angel in the shape of a middle-aged suburban mother. Don't get him wrong, Tony did love his own mother, despite all of her faults but Sarah Rogers was unarguably the perfect mother. The woman had single-handedly raised a chronically ill child into a kindhearted and polite young man. All the while she was a working as a nurse for one of the busiest hospitals in New York. If that wasn't impressive, Tony did not know what was.

"Slow down or you'll give Dum Dum a heart attack!" Tony called out, getting out of the car as his son hurried into the house.

Sarah Rogers lived with the Howling Commandos, apparently they were her father's disciples.

For real, they were the members of a special ops team who called themselves the Howling Commandos headed by Steve's maternal grandfather. Tony had first met them three years back when he had gone to meet his boyfriend's family.

He had stood frozen at the front the porch when Dum Dum had strode over and demanded for him to give the man a salute. He had turned to Steve to see the blond sigh and beckon for him to do it. It was only when he had raised a trembling hand to his forehead that the potbellied man burst out in laughter and engulfed him in a bear hug.

"Dum Dum thinks he is very funny," Steve had told him wistfully as he was passed around to the rest of the Howlies like a bunch of grapes.

"If it ain't my favourite son-in-law?" Dum Dum came out to show himself. Tony smiled wryly, the man looked the same as every other time he had seen him. At the moment he had a cold beer in one hand and was stroking his potbelly with the other.

"Cut the crap. He's your only son in law," Morita slapped the large man on the back as Tony skipped up the wooden stairs. The younger brunet considered both of the old men for a second with a smile but pushed his way inside the house.

Tony grit his teeth on seeing Peter on the couch, curled into his grandmothers side. He tried to return the smile Sarah gave him but failed miserably.

"I take it that something has happened?" The blonde asked with a soft smile as she ran her long and narrow fingers through Peter's locks of hair.

"Bullies," He muttered wistfully as he sat down on the couch only after giving the woman a kiss on her cheek.

Sarah let out a slight hiss of annoyance. Tony knew Sarah understood more about bullying than he did. His husband had told him numerous stories about him getting shoved into lockers, and Bucky had told him even more stories about his little brother getting beaten up in the lonely alleys of Brooklyn.

"I asked his teacher to talk to the parents," Tony offered, trying to defend his skills as a father.

"I'm not judging you darling. I know how hard it is to raise an energetic little boy alone, "

Tony scratched his neck nervously. No one could deny the fact that Tony was just as good as raising Peter alone. Steve did pitch in to help whenever he was home. But the thing was Steve was rarely home.

"Peter's stronger than some stupid bullies, right underoos?" Tony tried to cheer his son up by poking him on the belly. To his surprise, the boy just whimpered and curled himself further into his nana's lap.

"Of course he is. He's Tony Stark's son." Sarah chimed in giving Tony a charming wink.

Tony flushed red at the compliment, knowing well that the woman was trying to cheer him up first and not Peter. He gave her a bright smile but scrambled over to his son.

"Come on Petey-pie. You know you're all of our best boy, " Tony said truthfully as he tickled his son.

The thing was Peter was the only child in the extended family. He was Pepper, Rhodey, Natasha, Bucky, Happy and Clint's favourite nephew. Not to mention, he was getting spoiled rotten by his nana, the commandos and his papa. The sheer amount of love he got from the some times scared Tony. He was the only strict figure in the little boy's life.

"It's breaking my old heart, to see my grandson sad," That got a reaction from Peter. He poked his head up to blink his huge brown at both of them, the boy let out another whimper and mumbled "I want papa... "

Tony flinched but let out a slow breath on taking a glance at his watch. It was already the time they usually skyped with Steve. Unless Steve was under his Hero complex and gave his time to someone else.

"I think we can arrange that," He smiled encouragingly at his son.

"Be sure to call on your account. My son seems to be growing more and more weary of me with every passing day," Sarah added making Tony almost trip over his feet with guilt.  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Tony!" Steve let out with such fondness in his voice that Tony almost melted in front of Sarah's old computer. He smiled at his husband sheepishly but quickly glanced over to his mother-in-law.

"Ma?!" Tony bit back a laugh on seeing Steve's eyes grow comically wide on seeing his mother.

"Yes. I am alive, don't worry, Steve, " The older woman snarked at her son making Tony dissolve in fits of laughter. He hid his smile with a trembling fist as Steve shot him a glare from the computer screen.

"I- I've been wanting to call you ma. I promise. I really do!" Steve rambled guiltily, running a hand through his hair nervously. Tony gazed at his husband fondly until Peter whimpered again making him realise the reason behind the call.

"Somebody wants to talk to you, soldier," Tony smiled hoisting Peter into his lap as Sarah walked away rolling her eyes at them fondly.

Tony would be lying if he didn't say his heart break a little when Peter almost made grabby hands at his father's image on the computer screen.

"Hey Peter! How's school?" Steve waved at the five year old smiling ear to ear.

Steve was more of a parent than Peter's real mother had been. Tony had started to go out with Steve since Peter was almost three. Fortunately, the sexy blonde soldier he met at the diner was as good to kids as he was with Tony.

Peter had never even questioned if Steve is his parent or not. He was so accustomed to the man, that he had started to call him papa before he started grade school.

"Peter has a bully at school..." Tony muttered slowly as he pressed a kiss on the crown of Peter's head.

"What?" Steve snapped in a harsh voice, having extremely strong opinions on bullying. He turned his gaze to his son and asked softly "Are you Pete?"

“ 'Called me ratatouille. Cuz I'm tiny... ” Peter mumbled burying his wet eyes into Tony's chest as he fisted at the collar of the man’s chest.

“Are you sure the kid is okay? I mean last time I saw Peter he was almost taller than me,” Steve furrowed his eyebrows to pull a face of deep concentration.

Peter let out a small snort of disbelief and annoyance at his father's words and Tony couldn't help but shake his head at Steve fondly. God, Tony could almost sense the pitiful quarrels that Steve and Peter would have when the little boy turned into one of those hormone swindled, pubescent kids.

Steve pouted his lips at Tony but tried again “And it doesn't matter. Because even if you weren't the strong kid you were you'd still be my best boy,”

“Really?” Peter squeaked out, staring at the monitor with tearful eyes.

“ Course he would. I don't love your papa because of his huge muscles and sparkly blue eyes. I love him because of his dorky, old soul,” Tony sniped with a smirk and a wink.

Steve shot him a fake glare of offence but nodded smiling at their son. “Yeah, just like I love your dad for his huge heart and communication skills of a piece of bread instead of his devilish good looks and the billions in his bank account. I'm gonna love you anyway, little bear,”

Tony let out an exaggerated whine on his husband's words, feeling his heart flutter at the big heart. He scoffed at Steve's innocent smile and blew out a kiss for the younger man.

“Jesus H Christ, not in front of the kid!” Morita chided passing over, only after giving Tony a huge slap on the back.

Peter, however, seemed to find their confession extremely endearing. The five year old let out a whoop of joy. Giggling he leaned so close to the camera that Tony was sure Steve was only seeing the boy's pearly whites.

“Really papa?”

“Cross my heart,” Steve promised as Tony deposited their son back on the chair.

Peter let out another burst of giggles but confessed “I miss you,”

Tony bit his lip as Steve's bright smile dimmed off. The man let out a pained sigh and looked up to match Tony's gaze with a flashy grin.

“We'll have fun together at Pete's special day. Won't we Tony darling?”

“Of course, Goldilocks.” Tony cheered him on warmly.


	3. The One- Kodaline

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter Alert!!! So this one is supposed to be fluffy! But I suck at writing fluff, so this may end up being a little sucky. But do remember I tried my best. Heh. Please?
> 
> Now, more importantly, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to every single one of you who have given kudos and feedback for this fic it means the sun and the moon to me. Love you guys...

Steve scrubbed a hand through his hair. Feeling his muscles loosen as the jets of warm water hit against. He let out a sigh of relief. It felt good to drop his guard after a long time.

“Steve?” “Steve?!”

Steve's heart almost jumped out of his throat on hearing his name being shouted out. Suddenly he was the twenty one year old, fresh faced lieutenant seeing for the first time what the word war meant in the real world.

Turning off the water the blond jumped out of the shower stall, hearing his husband's harried calls again.

He quickly wrapped a towel around his waist and rushed out to see a wide-eyed Tony staring at him from the doorway.

“What's wrong?” He asked, his heart pounding against his chest like a drum.

Tony let out a huge sigh and walked over wrapping his hands over Steve's wrist. The other man sighed feeling like somebody had defused a time bomb strapped onto his chest. The blonde cocked an eyebrow at the other man as he leant against his wet torso.

“God, I thought I had missed this... I can't...” Tony mumbled, kissing him heartily, arms laced around his neck.

Steve huffed out a laugh, feeling the concern and annoyance fade off on seeing Tony's eyes twinkle at him. He asked.“Are you serious?”

Tony let out another hum, ignoring Steve and started pressing kisses all over his neck. He let out a yelp of shock as the man sucked hard on his throat.

“Tony, you'll leave a bruise!”

“Is that bad?”

“I'm not explaining a hickey to my son on his sixth birthday, Tony,”

“Okay kill joy,” Tony grumbled shoving him away playfully and walked away with a look of deep hurt in his face.

Steve smiled warmly at the shoulder man. Words couldn't describe how happy he was to be back at the tower. Not that, he didn't love his job, he did. But there was nothing better than being able to hold his husband and kissing him deeply.

“Umf-” Tony let out a muffled gasp as Steve snatched him back by his elbow, dipping him down to get a kiss. Steve smirked devilishly as Tony's eyes became comically wide with shock but quickly let out a whimper as Tony decided to join him by kissing him back.

“Papa!”

Both Steve and Tony let go of each other and glanced up at the clock on hearing Peter. Steve gave his husband a bitter smile on seeing it was nearing seven. It was officially time for Peter to celebrate his special day with the family. Which meant minimal kissing and touching for them.

“Duty calls,” Steve murmured pulling on a fresh pair of sweatpants and shirt. Grinning at Tony as the man hurried over to reach his son.

Steve quickly joined them and was about to wish his son a happy birthday when his husband gave him a sharp pinch on the hip. Furrowing his brows in pain, he shot a glare at Tony, who simply ignored him.

"Why are you up so early, Underoos?" Tony asked crouching down to their son, who was grinning ear to ear in happiness.

"Special day!" Peter shouted happily as he rested his glance on Steve.

The blond smiled warmly and opened his arms for him. Peter raced into his arms with such speed that Steve's heart broke a little. He ruffled Peter's curl and pressed a kiss on his temple.

"Special day? What's special about today?" Tony asked chewing on his lips as he pretended be toiling to remember his son's birthday.

Peter pouted clutching Steve's sweatshirt harder as he consumed the fact that his parents had forgotten his birthday. He turned to blink at Steve with sad brown eyes. "Papa?"

Steve almost felt his resolve fall, giving in to kiss his baby and wish him a happy birthday. Seemed that his husband sensed it too, because he gave the blond another pinch.

Scowling he battled the brunet's hand away and turned his head to meet Peter who was still staring at him hopefully.

"I'm sorry, Petey pie," He lied through his teeth, feeling guilt stab through his chest as Peter's pout became even more prominent. The little boy buried his moist eyes on Steve's shoulder.

Running his hand through the boy's luscious curls once again, he shot Tony a glare that he usually reserved for privates like Rumlow and Sitwell.

Tony nodded on getting Steve's soldier glare and made his way down the stairs. Either way, he had also though the prank was enough. Tony definitely didn't want his son crying on his very special day.

Not when Tony had spent so much time making sure the day would be extremely special. He grinned on seeing the cake. Tony had given a special order to Uncle Ben's bakery to get a Star Wars fashioned birthday cake, an ode to Peter's favourite movie.

Looking at the two-tier came with Luke Skywalker wielding his lightsaber, Han Solo, Princess Leia and even C3PO and R2-D2 Tony had to say the old man had outdone himself.

"Tony, Peter's ready for breakfast!" Steve's voice called out from above the stairs.

"Tell him his stale bread is ready!" Tony called out smirking to himself as he lit the candles. He bit back a bark of a laugh as the sound of Peter's disgust travelled downstairs.

"Papa look!" Peter screamed tugging on Steve's hair as his eyes fell on the decorations, gifts and of course, the cake.

Tony grinned brightly on seeing his son's eyes go wide on seeing May and Ben's masterpiece. The boy leapt out of his father's arms and sprinted over to the cake, circling around it like a hungry predator. Tony ruffled his hair and muttered "Happy birthday, Bambino,"

He looked up on hearing a small chuckle. He bit his lip on seeing Steve stare at Peter with glazed blue eyes. The amount of fondness the man's eyes carried melted Tony heart into a warm puddle.

"What are you standing there for, soldier?" He asked making a grabby hand at his husband.

Steve let out a small chuckle and walked over to lace a hand around Tony's waist. The brunet almost vibrated in elation as Steve pulled him closer and planted a kiss on the side of his head.

"You didn't forget! You didn't forget!" Peter yelled out in joy as he bounced on his heels.

"How could we forget our best boy's birthday?" Steve asked heaving Peter up one more time so he could blow the candles easily. Peter giggled in his arms and pecked a kiss on both Tony and Steve's face.

"Don't forget to make a wish," Tony warned his son fondly as he reached to blow the candles.

Tony's eyebrows shot up involuntarily as Peter gazed at Steve for a long moment before blowing out the candles. He glanced at his husband, but he didn't seem to notice it.

Tony shrugged but kissed Peter on the crown of his head "Happy birthday spiderling..."

\---------------

Steve smiled fondly as Peter bolted towards the beach with Morgan to collect seashells. The little boy had the energy of a ping pong ball but then again he had Tony's blood. It was almost foolish of Steve to be surprised.

"Want some help getting the back?" The aforementioned man asked leaning against the recliner.

Steve glanced up to see Tony standing in shorts and a tank top that let him show his nice, toned arms. The blond blinked at him being unable to collect any form of information. He shook his head and glanced at Tony again and noted the sunblock in his hand. Oh. No.

"No," he gurgled out with difficulty.

"Why not? You're gonna get a sunburn with your Irish skin, Steven,"

"No!" Steve snapped at his husband, feeling warmth rush into his cheeks as he stared at the sand in embarrassment. This couldn't be happening here. Not when they were hanging out with their best friends and kids.

Tony ignored him and squirted some of the liquid on his hand and spread it on his back. Steve bit his lips down hard trying to stop the cry that erupted in his throat as Tony's strong calloused hands roamed across his back gently.

"Steve?" The brunet asked in an amused voice. Steve hummed not trusting his voice at the moment.

"Oh my god," Tony huffed out his voice tingling with a laugh.

Steve shook his head but Tony, apparently was in a playful mood because the son of a bitch started kissing him on his neck. Steve groaned in misery as his blood rushed down to places where it wasn't supposed to.

"Put that man out of his misery, Jesus Christ!" Natasha hissed rolling her eyes at them. Steve buried his face in his hands. Thankfully, Tony took mercy in him and moved over to the beach chair sprawling out on it.

"Fuck you," he hissed at his husband, his body still tingling from electricity.

"Later," Tony winked at him and hid his face under the straw hat he had stolen from Pepper.

Steve gave him an annoyed scowl as he rubbed his arms trying to get rid of the goosebumps that had erupted on his limbs.

"Uncle Steve?"

Steve turned his head on hearing his niece's meek voice. He smiled at five-year-old Morgan Antonia Hogan who was beaming at him shyly.

"Hey, You alright sweetheart?" He asked glancing over to Peter who currently was very busy making a sandcastle with the help of Bucky and Rhodey.

"I made you something..." she said ducking her head shyly.

Steve grinned wide looking at the adorable little girl and ignoring his husband who was climbing over to his beach chair "Wow, really?"

"Yeah,"

Steve pressed his palm against Tony's face as he tried to move over and get a better look but crouched down to Morgan. He let out a soft whistle on taking the shell necklace she had made him.

"It's so beautiful, I'm honoured," Steve threw the necklace over his neck. He chuckled on seeing Morgan beam with pride. The blond leant down brushing her fluttery brown bangs away and pressed a small kiss on her forehead.

"I hate this!"

Both Steve and Tony jerked back on hearing the angry screech. They watched with open mouths as Peter kicked the castle near him into dust. Storming away from an equally stricken Bucky and Rhodey.

"I'll take this," Steve muttered walking fast towards his son who was now walking along the shoreline.

Creeping up behind the six-year-old he poked him on the shoulder. To his surprise, the boy shoved him back. Ouch.

Undeterred he caught up to Peter and poked him on the shoulder again. Steve couldn't help but frown as his son shoved him back again. Did he do something?

"You're hurting my feelings, Little man," He tried again, keeping his voice gentle not wanting to chastise Peter on his birthday.

Peter halted to a stop and whirled around glaring at him with angry tears in his eyes "It's my birthday!"

Steve winced at the accusive tone in his son's voice. He couldn't help but wonder what Peter was getting so heated over? Was it for the stupid prank Tony pulled in the morning? Steve furrowed his brows in confusion but stopped short once again on seeing Peter's eyes fixed on the shell necklace. Oh.

"Is this about Morgan, Pete?" Steve asked with a wry smile.

"Can I stand on your feet?" Peter demanded, crossing his tiny arms over his chest.

Steve nodded and extended his hands for the little boy. Peter made a valiant attempt to hide his smile but failed as he jumped on to his feet. The blond smiled taking small steps as Peter clung onto his hand tightly.

"You can't be mad at Morgan for giving me a gift, kiddo," He told him guardedly, waiting for his son to throw another tantrum. But Peter, unlike others, was an angel, he shook his head pouting "I'm sorry Papa,"

Steve beamed happily at Peter's apology and told him "It's okay. If you apologise to her, Peter,"

Peter sadly nodded moving with Steve but he refused to meet his eyes. Chewing on his lips for a moment the six-year-old blurted out "I miss you,"

He stopped short swallowing the lump in his throat. He felt his stomach knot into itself on having his worst nightmare turned true. If he couldn't even be there for his boys, what was he even doing with his life? Steve felt his chest ache, he felt like Steve Rogers was starting to fade away until there was just a faceless Captain Rogers.

Steve slowly pushed his feet, commanding them to work and moved Peter and himself a few more steps before saying " Want to hear a secret, Pete?"

The boy nodded eyeing him curiously.

"I'm not going to leave you and daddy next time I come home," He whispered.

To be honest, Steve had seen it coming. He missed the boys and their home back in New York too much. Still it was a bit sad knowing he wouldn't be wearing his uniform again but he considered himself more of an optimistic person.

"Really?!" Peter shouted out loudly. Steve chuckled softly, wondering whether the boy inherited the habit of screeching at every smaĺl thing from Tony.

"Yeah, can't stay away from my little boy too long," he said with a sad smile. It was the truth. Every time he looked the Phil of Tony and Peter framed in his office, he felt the urge to drop everything in his hands and go home to them.

Peter tackled him into a hug, his arms wound tight around Steve's torso.

"Love you, Papa!"

\--------------------

"I still don't see why you two couldn't take me out," Tony grumbled as they walked away from the closed restaurant.

Steve chuckled wrapping his arm around Tony's shoulder. He had taken Peter out all day for bonding time much to Tony's chagrined. The man had practically whined till his lab partner Tiberius came in and whisked him away.

"You have him the year-round. I deserve to have Peter to myself for half a day," Steve demanded haughtily.

Tony stuck his tongue out at him childishly. Steve let out a chuckle but leant over to plant a kiss on the older man's forehead. He smiled merrily as Tony visibly loosened inside in his arms.

"So our dinner date was great!" Tony quickly announced skipping out of Steve's arms. The man took a few steps forward and turned back to grin at Steve.

The blond smiled guiltily and ran a hand through his blonde hair. They had planned their big romantic dinner date for tonight. But Peter like every other child had somehow sensed that his parents wanted to be self-indulgent today and pleaded with them to have a night party with him.

"I don't think there are any restaurants open in the tri-state area. Well, not ones that serve edible food," Tony pointed out quickly.

Steve shrugged in disappointed but asked him "Wanna have a dinner date in the kitchen?"

Tony burst into a fit of laughter but skipped back to Steve, lacing his arms around his waist. He pressed a small kiss on the tip of his nose and whispered "Anything to bring that smile back on your face, buttercup,"

And now you know the reason why Steve and Tony were sitting on the counter of their kitchen at one in the morning.

"Ah, red wine and grilled cheese... The food of...romantics," Tony waxed poetic before taking a huge bite of the bread.

"Shut up," Steve sniped kicking him on his ankle.

Tony let out a yelp in surprise and gave Steve a look of deep betrayal. The blond grinned wide and slid over to kiss his husband.

"Steve?" "Steve?"

Steve let out a deep grunt not wanting to take his hands away from Tony but the other man poked him hard on his ribs to get his attention.

"Steve, I love you,"

Steve pulled back and gazed at Tony fondly feeling a rush of warmth towards the genius. He moved his hand over to take the man's hand. He kissed it heartily "Not as much as I do, Stark. Never as much as I do,"


	4. Sweater Weather (Asksks love this song ;) )

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter! Yay! I wrote something. Gentle reminder that I'm a VeRy amateur writer.
> 
> Thank you to every single person who has took the time to vote and give their feedback for this fic. It means the world to me. (It truly does)

"God that's gross, Pete," Steve groaned as his son dunked a french fry into his milkshake and popped it inside his mouth . Peter stared at him for a moment his nose scrunched in defiance but took another fry and dunked it again.

Steve watched him carefully and felt a smile tug at the corner of his lips as the little boy leant over and offered him the chocolate milkshake coated fry. He bit his lip in apprehension as he looked at the offering but quickly

decided not to disappoint his son, more than usual.

Taking a small bite, Steve gave his head a non-committal jerk. Chewing slowly, he couldn't help but think that it didn't taste as weird as he had conjured up inside his head.

"I will admit that it's not plain gross," he told his son with a shrug.

He let out a long, suffering sigh as Peter flashed his pearly whites at him and cooed "You love it!"

"I do not. I told you no such thing," He argued back grinning at the six-year, who had forgotten about his lunch in the glory of winning the argument against his father.

"Everything's not as icky as it looks Papa," Peter commented with a smile and went back to pick at his food making Steve's smile drop.

He stared at Peter in wonder. Was his six-year-old son giving him a lesson in morals? Wasn't this the baby who had nearly bit his finger off the first time they met? He swallowed the weird knot trying to suffocate him as his eyes burned with pride.

Steve beamed sliding over to Peter and pulled him into his lap tickling him on his ribs. He chuckled fondly as the small brunet squealed and cried until he let go of him.

"You can't do that," Peter giggled, his voice exasperated and hoarse from too much laughter and shouting.

"Really? When did my baby bear get too old for tickles?" Steve asked fondly making Peter burst into another fit of giggles. He crawled back into Steve's lap and leant over to whisper something to him before they were rudely interrupted.

"Do you boys need anything else?" The waitress asked grinning at them Steve cocked an eyebrow at Peter, who shook his head tightly.

"No, thank you miss," He smiled at the young woman politely moving over to scoop Peter into his lap once again. Steve shrugged biting his lip and shuffled in his seat on seeing the waitress put down a napkin on their table followed by a cold beer.

"We didn't order a beer," The blond shook his head, grimacing.

"Oh, that's complimentary," The waitress blushed smiling at him coyly.

Steve winced, feeling his face go warm in embarrassment as he noticed the phone number scrawled on the side of the napkin.

"Thank you but I don't drink," He tried again, trying to fend the lady off without making her feel bad. 

"Oh?" "I'm rea-"

"Miss me, lover?" Steve turned his head to the side to be attacked by a pair of lips on his own. Steve smirked kissing Tony back happily. He winced and tried not to gag at the taste of scotch laced on the brunet's lips.

"When do I not?" He mumbled truthfully as Tony slid over into the seat in front of them.

"You're late daddy," Peter chimed in unhelpfully. So much for letting things go. Steve sighed, he knew Tony was late but it wasn't like he could blame his husband. Not when he ran the whole house the year round with minimal complaints.

"I'm sorry underoos. But Obie and I had a big meeting with boring, old businessmen," Tony explained poking his son gently on the tip of his nose. 

Steve chewed on his lips as he poked at the uneaten plate of salad in front of him. He felt a small smile stretch on his lips as Peter and Tony chattered animatedly. 

Steve couldn't help but feel his heart swell as Tony transitioned from a stone-cold businessman into the lovable father he always had been. The man wore fatherhood better than he wore a Tom Ford suit.

At some point Tony had even started to rub his arm against Steve's. The blond felt dread build up inside his chest as he smiled fondly at his husband. He felt weary that he would have to leave his family in the matter of a few hours. 

"Tony!" 

Steve turned around sharply on hearing an unfamiliar voice. He grimaced on seeing Tiberius Stone rush over to them.

"You forgot your watch, man," he hissed throwing back, oh, look at that. Steve's birthday gift for Tony.

"Fuck, sorry. Thanks for bringing it back. I really don't know why I keep wearing a watch," Tony chuckled, winking at Steve before he slipped the wristwatch back on.

Steve ducked his head shovelling more salad into his mouth, the blond was suddenly overcome with an urge to be swallowed up by the floor.

His heart broke a little on seeing how little his gift meant to his husband. He still remembered how excited he had been two years back when he was searching for the perfect gift for his fiance.

"Ty, you wanna come sit down? Peter will serve you his chocolate fries,"

Steve squeezed his eyes shut, his fingers scrambling over to clutch at the chain on his neck subconsciously. He really hoped Tiberius was the kind of person who could understand personal boundaries. 

"Sure, if I can get the famous chocolate fries," the other man said laughing loudly.

Steve deflated quickly as Tiberius sat down next to Tony hooking a hand around the other man's shoulder. He pretended to be very busy eating as Tony and Tiberius chatted effortlessly.

"So what are you two working on?" Steve asked in the most stable voice he could muster at the moment.

"Nothing much," "The Jericho,"

Steve eyed Tony carefully. The brunet didn't even make an effort to match his gaze as he kept poking at the breaded chicken. 

"The Jericho?" Steve asked Tiberius, knowing he was a better bet than his husband at the moment.

"Yeah it's the latest tech in missile systems. One single click could bring the whole of New York down to ashes. It's gonna help protect a lot of people,"

Steve closed his eyes feeling something stab at his chest. This was probably what Colonel Phelps was waiting for, probably the reason he asked Steve to tell his husband to get a move on. 

He took in a sharp breath "You're gonna protect a lot of people by putting a gun against their head,"

Tiberius glared at him, his eyes into narrow slits "We're doing what has to be done, Captain Rogers,"

"You're putting innocent civilians at risk, Mr. Stone," he snapped back angrily. 

"You know you're the one to talk, I know about all the terrible things you soldiers have done,"

Steve glanced over to see Peter blinking at them his doe-like eyes glazing in confusion. Planting his palms on the table forcefully the blond heaved himself up "Yeah, we may have done things that made us not sleep so well. But we did that because we didn't have a choice. Unlike you,"

Taking a last wavering look at Tony who was busy ignoring everyone Steve stormed out of the diner. Fuck. What did he do? He just created a show and walked out on his son and husband. Crap.

Burying his face in his hands he bit back a cry of pain. Letting out a groan, he slammed the car door open and rummaged the dashboard. He shrugged on finding a box of cigars deep inside.

Was that Tony's? Who was he kidding? it was probably Obadiah's. Without even thinking he lit the stick and placed it between his lips.

His ma would probably smack him on the head hard enough to get a concussion if she found out he was smoking. 

He hadn't been a big fan of smoking. Not when his ma was telling him about the devil that lung diseases were. But when he entered the army he barely had a choice. It was his only chance to get to know his team.

Taking another drag he waited for Tony and Peter to come back. He dropped the cigar on his hand on seeing Peter rush over to him followed by his dad. Steve let out as long breath hoping to get the cigarette stink out of his breath as he opened his arms for his son.

"Good, you're here. Let's go," Tony sniped as he got into the driver's seat.

Steve shrugged knowing he deserved to be casstised but looked back at Peter who was staring at him intently with a pout on his lips.

"You left," The little boy accused him.

"I'm sorry Pete. I promise I won't do it again," He assured his son with a shaky smile. To his relief, Peter crawled over and latched his arms around his neck to rest his head on his shoulder. 

The boy stayed silent for a long time but then asked in a sleepy voice "Just like you promised?"

Steve kissed Peter on the crown of his head "Just like I promised,"

By the time they reached home Peter was fast asleep inside Steve's arm. A day of rubbing around the space museum and at the park seemed to have taken a toll on him. The blond gave his husband a look and Tony nodded in understanding.

Carefully holding his son, Steve padded over to Peter's bedroom to tuck him in. He felt his heart go soft on seeing how tiny their son looked lying on the bed. Steve smiled and leant down and pressed a few more kisses on the six-year-old's face for good measure.

"Love you, Petey pie..."

\-----------------------------------------------------

Making his way back to his and Tony's bedroom Steve smiled fondly at his husband who was curles upon the loveseat, holding a stuffed giraffe inside his arms.

Leaning back against the wooden door, he inhaled deeply "Tony?"

"Yes dear?"

Steve glanced up at his husband again and scratched at the back of his neck nervously. He asked "Are you sure, you should be doing this?"

"Cuddling with Georgie?" He asked holding the aforementioned giraffe towards Steve with a confused look in his brown eyes.

Steve shook his head sighing and sat down on the large bed. He

ran a hand through the unmade bed and asked "I'm serious Tony. I'm talking about the weapons trade,"

He slowly turned his eyes to look at Tony. The other man was frowning at him, his eyebrows furrowed. 

"I'm just trying to do some good here, Steve. And besides, Obie thinks its-" "You can't just blindly trust Obadiah, Tony."

"C'mon Steve, he's not that bad..." Tony told him with a pleading smile, his brown eyes gleaming with emotions.

"I think he's manipulating you, Tony. I really do," Steve bit out slowly, running a shaky hand through his hair.

The blond winced as his husband jumped up from the love seat. He pursed his lips as Tony glared at him affronted "That's a bit harsh, don't you think? I mean, I know Obie can be a greedy dick sometimes but still he cares about us. He was the only person that loved me other than my mom and Jarvis,"

Steve rubbed a finger along his lip as Tony looked at him with tears glistening in his eyes. He stood up and closed the distance between them, his hands lacing around his husband's waist. Placing a chaste kiss on the brunet's head he whispered "I just- I didn't know if the genius I met a few years ago would think building murder weapons was the best for him,"

Tony opened his mouth again to argue but Steve shooed him off with another quick kiss "Just tell me you'll do what's best for yourself every once in a while, Mr. Stark. I hate seeing you hurt,"

Tony hummed in agreement and muttered "Anything for you,"

Steve nearly let out a yelp of pain as the other man's nails dug into his shoulders. He pouted at Tony, who found the perfect solution to kiss the pain away.

"I'm gonna miss you so much," Tony muttered cupping his face with his hand.

"About that..."

"What?"

"This is gonna be my last tour, Tony,"

"Shut up,"

Steve chuckled as Tony's brown eyes widened into the size of gold coins after hearing his words "I swear. I did my dues for the country. Now I wanna do right by my best boys,"

"This is real?"

Steve nodded falling back into the loveseat, pulling Tony onto his lap.

The brunet groaned resting his head under Steve's chin and muttered "I love you so much..."

"How much?" Steve quipped with a smirk on his lips.

"On a scale of one to ten?" Tony asked gazing at Steve innocently with his big brown eyes.

Steve let out a hum as he nodded.

_"Three thousand,"_

"I love you too, Mr. Stark,"


	5. Castle of Glass

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO. THE TITLE OF THE CHAPTER. SORRY.
> 
> Also, I kicked out Winterfalcon for Winterwidow if anyone does not know. I love Sambucky but I just want Buckynat here.
> 
> Also various warnings for the chapter in the endnotes.
> 
> And please do tell me how this chapter was. Cuz, I have some feelings about this one.
> 
> Hope you enjoy the chapter and remember that this story has lots of chapters left. Love y'all. Bye.

[](https://postimg.cc/z3RNbrzs)

Steve clenched his teeth letting out a hiss as he pushed his way past Colonel Philip's office. He grimaced on seeing Bucky sitting at the bunker. The brunet stopped polishing his rifle and looked up to snicker at him.

"Philips seemed to be in an exceptionally festive mood," He said smirking at him gleefully.

Steve nodded "Yeah seems so. Stopped shouting at me after an hour,"

Bucky barked out laugh at hearing the comment and went back to cleaning his gun while Steve resumed to his office. He stopped short on seeing civilians standing with Clint.

"Who are they?" He asked the specialist, his brows furrowed in confusion.

Clint grinned scooping up the little boy standing next to him and pointed to their civilian contractor, Razaq. Steve smiled in understanding. The Iraqi had told him earlier that he was going to look for more opportunities. He was planning to leave the border with his family as soon as he could.

It would definitely explain the numerous bags the young woman in burkha was holding.

_"You're leaving?"_ He asked the woman politely.

She blinked at him with her clear grey eyes for a moment but nodded _"We're going to find a safer home for our kids,"_

Steve smiled once more seeing the hope and excitement dancing in the eyes of the younger woman at the hope of a safe and stable environment for her family.

The blond crouched down to meet the eyes of the youngest member of the small family.

_"Were you going to leave without saying goodbye, Mariam?"_ He asked, gently placing his hands around her narrow shoulders. The little girl lowered her head, a faint blush working into her milky white skin.

"Bucky's gonna be distraught," He told Clint, who hummed in agreement. Bucky had taken a liking to the little girl who skipped into the base with her father every so often. He had even gone around to buy some dolls and candy for her whenever he went home stateside.

"Shut up you fucktards! She gave me a special goodbye letter," Bucky barked out from around the corner making half the members of the unit dissolve in howls of laughter.

Steve gave his step brother a fond smile and pressed a hand on Mariam's head before shaking Razaq's hand.

"Clint give them an escort, would you? God knows they earned it..." He muttered, rolling his eyes as the other man gave him a lazy salute before herding the family out of the base.

Steve finally made his way over to Danvers, Altman and Kaplan who had overtook the responsibility of the day's patrols.

"Um, we were going with four convoys. Barnes' unit on the first, Hill's on the second then Kaplan, Triplett and both of us," Altman told him nervously and handed him a slip.

Steve took the parchment from his hand and nodded asking them to get ready.

The blond pulled on his active combat uniform and carefully tucked in his dog tag. He stopped short as his hand tangled with the St. Michael's pendant on his neck.

Peter picked it up for him last year when he had gone to a church sale with his aunt May. He had promised Steve that the chain would keep him safe through any trouble he would meet on the road. Steve had just smiled at his son fondly and put the chain around his neck. It didn't matter didn't if he had no faith in any god. He just wanted his son to be happy.

"You coming or what?" Bucky's head popped up behind his office door.

Steve jerked back and grimaced at the brunet who did not seem to comprehend the concept of privacy. To be honest he never had. Even when they were children, Bucky would barge into his room without even announcing. Steve would be lying if he didn't admit it had led to more than a few embarrassing situations.

"In a minute, sergea.nt," He sniped back, keeping his voice playful.

Bucky grinned at him gleefully, sending a lazy salute " _'Kay captain Stevie,"_

Steve felt his face go warm in embarrassment. Captain Stevie used to be his rank when they were messing around as kids. Bucky would be the villain, the fearsome winter soldier who kept all of his stuffed toys hostage. The funny thing was every time Steve would tackle Bucky down and instead of shooting or pretending to hurt him, Captain Stevie would give him a massive hug and wax poetic about the power of love.

"The power of love, ain't that right?" Bucky howled with laughter as he walked out of the room.

Steve scowled in annoyance and shouted after him "I was seven!"

\--------------

Steve sat back on the scorching metal bench feeling the heat work in him. His hair was sticking to his forehead, wearily. The rest of the team seemed to be miserable from the heat too.

Triplett was rubbing at his eyes every other minute to get the sweat off it. The younger man froze when he realized Steve was staring at him. The blond gave him a faint smile making the private glance down flustered.

Shaking his head Steve borrowed his two-way radio from Kaplan's hand.

_"Radio check?"_

Steve waited for a few moments for the rest of the convoys to respond as the static cleared.

_"Read you loud and clear-"_ Bucky's voice came first followed by Danvers' and finally Hills' .

"We're moving," he spoke into the radio and nudged Hunter beckoning for him to get ready to move.

_"Wilco, cap-"_ Danvers replied first this time.

Steve settled back uncomfortably watching his surroundings. Honestly, going on convoys was better when he was with Bucky and his men. At least they didn't look at him like he was a ticking bomb. From the side he could feel Altman observing him carefully. Every member in the convoy was sitting ramrod straight. Probably scared he was going to give them a lecture on military etiquette if they nudged a toe out of the line.

"How's the first tour treating you?" He finally asked Triplett.

The other man jerked up and looked at him with wide eyes. Steve smiled trying to make the man comfortable.

"Um, it's okay. I guess. Sir," he muttered scratching at the back of his head awkwardly.

"Everything you dreamed of right?" Altman contributed dryly.

Steve let out a chuckle eying the lieutenant carefully. He nodded "Definitely not regretting it, are we?"

Altman cackled but shook his head with a smirk "Of course not. I never got to be a bully in my school life,"

Steve gnawed at his lip as Altman told them the truth. That's what they were doing here, weren't they? Being the biggest bully on the field.

He shook his head "You make do with what you get..."

"Is that what you do?" Triplett asked suddenly, his brown eyes staring at him with such intensity that Steve fell silent for a second. He dryly swallowed trying to find an answer.

_"IED! IED! IED!"_

Steve's eyes went wide as he heard the message from the radio. He snatched the radio from the bench and barked "Halt! Halt! No one move!"

He shoved himself up and went out of the convoy after ordering the others to wait for his command. He took a few steps to the front and felt himself get blown back as the first convoy got swallowed by flames followed by a loud bang.

He sucked in a breath as the smoke billowed. Bucky. Fuck. Bucky!

Steve sprinted over to the demolished convoy trying to look for his brother. Straying his lungs under the smog, he called out for him. A foolish move, he knew. But at the only thing he cared about was Bucky.

Steve turned sharply on hearing a moan. He carefully stepped over to find the brunet sprawled out beside a rock.

"Buck!" Steve shouted sliding down to sit beside a glaze eyed Bucky. He bit his lips and swallowed down bile fighting it's way through his throat on seeing Bucky's arm. Bloody and mangled he knew it was a lost cause.

He put the radio near his mouth and barked out "Med evac! Med evac now! Kaplan, copy?"

"Help on the way!" Kaplan's grainy voice came back after a second.

"Steve...?" Bucky slurred out his voice lower than a faint whisper.

Steve glanced down in surprise and swallowed as his eyes fell on Bucky's bloodied arm again. He bit back a cry and opened his mouth "Buck it's-"

His words stopped as a bullet whirred past his head and hit the metal of the destroyed convo. He moved Bucky over to the rock, to save him from the fire and looked back to spot the shooter. He cursed under his breath on seeing that he had hidden again.

He winced on finding that the whole place was under heavy fire. Quickly leaping over to a hiding place, he braked into the radio again"I want half the unit helping the med team. The other half. You have one job, keep the terrorists away from the civilians. I want minimum civilian casualty. Copy?"

He waited for an answer and felt his blood boil as the sounds of bullets and blasts answered him.

"Do you copy?"

"Copy that!" Danvers answered him in a quick rasp.

Taking the gun from the ground, he aimed at the man trying to get to Bucky. Jamming his feet firmly on the ground, he pulled the trigger. Steve flinched as the bullet struck the man on his chest. He stumbled a step back and fell beside Bucky limply.

"Med Evac. ETA?" He snapped and felt his eyes burn in relief as Kaplan sprinted over and crouched down to Bucky. Seeing his brother was finally safe Steve moved over to the place of active fire.

He raced over to the goon who was tailing Triplett. He felt a chill run through his spine as his neck under his arms. Triplett turned over to look at him with wide eyes. Steve nodded but beckoned for him to transport the civilians safely.

"Med Team. Get the wounded soldiers and get the hell out. Do you Copy?"

"Copy!" Sallis barked back.

Steve rushed a covering civilian behind the last convoy and tried to rush back to the team. He grunted as he tripped over something almost making Danvers and Altman fall on the ground.

The blond groaned in pain and looked down at the offending object. His eyes widened with fear on seeing a missile lying behind him with STARK Industries painted on it.

"Out. Out. Get out!" He shouted out in fear trying to shove his

fellow soldiers away from the way before he could.

"IED! Move!" Somebody screamed as Steve's body crumpled from th era splitting noise from the missile.

\---------

_"Keep the civilian casualties low!"_

_"Does anyone see Danvers?!"_

_"Negative!"_

_"Altman?"_

Steve blinked his eyes a few times trying to make sense of his surroundings. He slowly rolled to the side, feeling his body scream at him for it.

Steve felt the blood drain off his face on seeing the blurred form of a familiar little girl. He let out a cry of pain and fear, trying to move away from the corpse of the kid. He screamed again in frustration as his body failed to cooperate, leaving him to flail at the ground.

He pawed at the ground trying move as far from the corpses as he could. Salvation finally came to him when his eyes started failing and darkness finally shrouded his eyes.

\--------

Tony was fifteen when his guidance counsellor at college called him into her office. He had sat awkwardly and drank the tea she offered him politely as she eyed him, sympathy dancing in her pale grey eyes.

It was when he finally set down the teacup she told him there was some bad news. A shiver went through Tony's spine. Did he fail in a test? Fid he fail in a subject. Howard was going to skin his hide.

In a trembling voice he had asked "What's wrong, Ms. Pym? "

"There was an accident, Mr and Mrs Stark passed away. I'm sorry sweetheart,"

Tony felt like a truck had rammed into his chest. All his life he had hated his parents with every inch of his body. Now that he knew he wasn't ever going to see them alive ever. He couldn't even tell them he still loved them, despite everything. Tony couldn't move.

"Tony?" "Tony?" "Talk to me!"

Tony couldn't do this. Oh, god he couldn't do this. He hadn't planned for this. It was Steve he was meant to come home. It didn't matter where he went, he was supposed to come back home.

"Tony, can you hear my voice?" Someone, A woman, asked him in a slow and deep voice.

He jerked his head, having minimal control of his body at the moment.

"Follow my voice. Okay? You're with us."

Tony blinked his eyes feeling lightheaded, he was being helped to a seat by someone. His vision was slowly going back to normal. He looked around frantically to see a teary eyed Sarah and an ashen-faced Natasha looking at him. His heart skipped a beat. Did they already find out about Steve?

No. Philips had called Natasha about James. He was at a military hospital in Baghdad. Critically hurt but he was stable. Alive.

Tony let a sob tear through his throat. Sarah came over to him quickly, the woman wrapped her frail arms around his shoulder, letting him rest his face on her chest.

Tony felt the reservoir where he had locked his emotions tight and secure burst into shards. He burst into tears, sobbing raggedy at the woman's sweater as never-ending tears flowed down his cheeks.

"Did they call about Steve, love?" Sarah asked in a grave voice, as if she was preparing herself for the worst. How could you prepare to hear your son was dead? The woman was going to be destroyed.

"They said he was-God. Please don't make me- I can't- " Another sob wracked out of his chest, piercing his whole body with sharp pain.

Sarah ran her hand through his hair, softly caressing the nape of his neck. She paused for a few moments before asking "Is he alive?"

Tony but into his lips but slowly shook his head. He felt his heart squeeze in pain as she slowly removed herself from his grip. He looked up to glance at her. The woman looked like she was going in to keel over any moment.

Natasha had sensed it too because she quickly went over to Sarah and guided her back into a seat. Tony watched in pain as she glared at the carpet below her feet as if it had mortally offended her by its mere existence.

Finally, she asked "My son's dead?"

Tony flinched harshly. It was out in the open. Steve Rogers was no longer suffering from personhood. Sarah had managed to outlive her son. Tony Stark was officially a widower.

He curled into his seat almost wanting to hide himself. He knew well that everyone in the room loved his husband almost as much as he did. He probably should be consoling them like he had seen other people do. But at the moment, he wanted nothing more than to grive in the privacy of the closed doors of his bedroom.

"It's gonna be okay..." Dum Dum placed one of his meaty hands on her narrow shoulder. His face solemn.

To everyone's shock Sarah slapped his hand away and glared at him. She let out a hiss of pain but quickly recollected herself and shot up from her seat.

"Sarah..." Morita tried this time.

The blonde ignored him and wiped at her red-rimmed eyes "I'm going to sleep. I have to be there for James,"

Natasha got up from Tony's side and stepped up "Sarah, no one is going to judge you if you don't come. You just lost your-"

"Bullshit!" The older woman screeched, silencing Natasha. The whole room fell silent again, the coldness in the room swirling up once again.

"James is just as good as my son for me. I want to and will be there on his side," She snapped at them, her voice uncharacteristically sharp and cold.

"Okay," Natasha murmured to no one as Sarah stormed out of the hall.

Tony let out the sigh that had been suffocating him for god knows how long. He slipped out of the loveseat and tried to make a beeline to his room before anyone could corner him. He had almost succeeded to before his eyes fell on the portraits lined up on the hall.

He stopped short on seeing the framed picture of the beautiful blonde woman with her arms around a skinny little boy. He swallowed dryly and moved over to see the different pictures of Sarah and Steve. Spanning from his childhood to the one of him standing with Sarah in his ceremonial uniform at West Point.

The next picture made Tony's eyes burn once again. Their wedding. Steve was smiling at him his cheeks red from blushing and blue eyes sparkling with fondness. For Tony.

The brunet jerked back on hearing somebody's footsteps descending towards him. He almost ran to his bedroom door, scared someone would want to console his for his loss.

Tony walked into the bedroom and felt his stomach drop again. He had never been inside the bedroom at Sarah's house without Steve. This was the first he understood how much the room felt like the blonde. It would be like a warm hug, in every other situation. But now. Now, it felt like someone was playing a cruel joke on him.

See what you had. How much you had? Look around. You have nothing now.

Tony stumbled out of the room and went to Peter. He smiled faintly on seeing the little boy fast asleep. His favorite plush toy, Henry was tucked under his arms snugly. Tony walked over to sit at the edge of the small bed. He slowly pushed Peter's brown curls away from his forehead. After acing a kiss on the boy's arm. He squeezed himself into the bed and hugged Peter to his chest. Holding him like a talisman.

\--------------------------

Tony feared he would dream that night. Have nightmares about his husband. However, the little sleep he had was dry yet untroubled. Tearing his crusty, tear stained eyes open Tony searched for Peter.

He groaned and heaved himself out of the bed. He let out a small chuckle on finding that Henry the T-Rex was tucked in besides his chest.

Placing the treasured doll safely on the bed he climbed out of the bed and padded down the stairs. His heart squeezed every time he thought about Steve. He wanted to say he missed Steve already, but he didn't. Because deep inside he still believed Steve wasn't gone. He was just on his deployment period. He would see the blond beaming at him in a few months.

"Mornin' daddy!" Peter chimed in, making Tony smile. He went over to plant a kiss on the boy's cheek and hug him, holding him a few moments longer than he usually.

Pouring himself a cup of coffee, he sat down next to Peter. Chewing on the insides, he waited patiently as Peter finished his breakfast. There was no reason to spoil Peter's breakfast for doing the job Tony has been dreading to do.

He chewed on his nails, feeling sick to his stomach once again. It was usually Steve who did the emotional talks. It had been the blond who had told Peter that his grandparents were in heaven and explained death to him when Peter had asked the question for the first time.

Unlike Tony, the Steve had enough tact to not completely shatter someone's heart. He played with emotions while Tony played with facts.

"Daddy?"

"Yeah?" He asked snapping his head up to stare at his son. Peter studied him curiously for a moment as Dum Dum offered to clear the plates.

Tony swallowed down the knot trying to grip his throat. This was the cue. It was just Peter and Tony inside the dining room.

"Come here Pete," He beckoned softly, gesturing to his lap.

Peter grinned at the invitation and scrambled over to climb up into Tony's lap. Biting back his tears, Tony tousled the boy's hair and placed a kiss on his temple "I love you so much, Bambino,"

"I love you too daddy. Don't be sad," He muttered looking at him with a pot on his lips.

Tony nodded, his eyes stinging with tears. He wrapped his arms around and pulled him closer to his chest "You have to listen to me closely. Okay, baby?"

Peter nodded fiercely, as I he hoped to wipe Tony's sadness away by obeying everything he said.

"Okay... Okay. Okay," Tony cleared his throat "You know your pops works in the army right. Very dangerous..."

Peter furrowed his eyebrows at him, tilting his head to his shoulder for a moment in confusion. But he gave Tony a quick nod of understanding.

"So, there was an accident at his work. Some very bad people tried to hurt them. That's why uncle Bug got hurt," Tony explained caressing him on the head.

Peter nodded again, his eyes looking scarily glazed. He stared at the floor for a second then asked in a low voice "Is papa okay?"

Tony took in a harsh breath, wincing as he felt a piercing pain in his chest. He kissed Peter on the head again for good measure "Peter. Your pops got... he was hurt really bad helping other people."

"He's not coming back, _Bambino_ ,"

Tony felt his hearts skip a beat as Peter stared at him, his brown eyes wide as gold coins as he stared at him "He can't come back? He has to daddy!'

"I'm sorry. He can't, Pete,"

"But he told me he would come back, daddy! He promised he would. Papa never breaks his promise,"

Tony felt his eyes become wet. He knew he was crying again. God, why was the universe so determined on fucking his life over.

"He would love to come back Peter. I promise but he can't honey,"

"Why does he hafta go daddy?" Peter asked him in a meek voice. Tony shook his head and patted his son's back. Extremely aware of the patch of wetness that was growing where the little boy had hidden his face.

"I wish I could tell you, big guy. I really do,"

"It will be okay. Papa's gonna have nonna for company. Right daddy?"

Tony blinked at his son for a few moments in surprise. He had expected him to scream, cry amd throw a a tantrum. But, never had he expected him to ask if his grandmother would keep his father company. His sweet, little, boy.

"Yeah, nonna's gonna took good care of him," Tony smiled feebly, feeling his own chest relax at the prospect of his husband being with his mother.

"I'll miss him, daddy..." Peter told him slowly.

Tony bit his tongue "We'll be okay,"

 _Soon_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Child death  
> Graphic depiction of violence,  
> Steve dies.  
> Tony feels how he feels...?  
> Tony explains Steve's death to Peter.  
> Bucky's hurt.  
> Sarah has to come to terms about the fact that her son is dead.
> 
> Anyways hit kudos if you enjoyed the story and feedback is always nice<3 <3


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